China tackles chip talent shortage

Seeking talent: A man visits a display of semiconductor devices at Semicon China, a trade fair for semiconductor technology, in Shanghai. Master’s enrolments to study chip engineering in the country nearly doubled between 2018 and 2022. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: China is ramping up efforts to develop home-grown semiconductor talent as it seeks to rapidly fill a shortage of expertise that has been made worse by US efforts to limit Beijing’s access to advanced chip technology.

Enrolments for undergraduate and post-graduate courses have surged over the past five years thanks to new funds for top universities as well as a boom in smaller private schools focused on shorter-term instruction.Some graduates with degrees in other subjects are being lured into the growth industry at a time when entry-level salaries have doubled.